Took a trip down to Patonga, 1/2 way down the NSW East Coast just North of Sydney.

My mate Allan has just bought a sail and outriggers to match his Revo. The winds were light 6 knot Easterlies and with Patonga's typical large swell, condition were ideal to test out the new setup. Stringy joined us. He has added some extra horsepower to his AI as you will see in the photo and I wanted to see if I could find some waves to test out my Splitter ( video to come ). So it was a a real 'Research and Development' day.

Sail area is 1/3 that of the AI but the speed difference in a light wind is marginal. Very impressive setup. The big advantages are in setup and when it comes to end of day packup. Dragging a huge fish for 1/2 the trip didn't help the speed.

Stringy Supercharged his AI in typical Stringy fashion ( I knew something was different but it took me a while to spot it ). Someone had to do it.

Great spot for lunch.

Great lunch to match the spot.

The noisy neighbours.

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Don't take life too seriously................it ain't permanent.

Last edited by Slaughter on Sun Dec 16, 2012 12:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Very nice trip report. Great to see you guys enjoying summer weather. It was blowing a 40 knot December gale today. The AI was under cover and I decided it was a good day to fire up the fish smoker to do some salmon for xmas. Cheers from Vancouver Island,T2

Thanks tsquared. Our weather is really unpredictable at the moment. We are well into summer yet tomorrow could be rainy and cold. The next day in the high 30's. You enjoy that smoked salmon. Some pics would be nice !

Doubt that I'll be able to get a free night over this Christmas break Dave but If I do I'll let you know. Working for a lot of it. Bout time we caught up though !

Yeah Chris. Stringy joined us at the last minute for a couple of hours to test out his new mod. It was way quicker than mine with I think 90 foot square compared to the standard 57 ( I think ). He wasn't do'n much peddling. I'll let him fill you in with the details.

Looks like leaving before lunch was a big mistake!The dry biscuits I ate on the return trip went down OK...thanks for asking. Great report and pics mate. I wished I'd had more time.Only a couple of my pics turned out. Problems with the Canon case fogging. Might have to stick the GoPro anti fog pads in next time.

That splitter blends in so well it's hard to see.

Chris,I'll post more details after I do more testing but the TI sail shows promise in lighter winds. We'll have to get together again on BW for some serious comparisons. This trip was too short.

PS: Slaughter please pass on to Alan this link to get him started with his Revo sail rigging:viewtopic.php?f=32&t=34749Lots more info on the kayak sailing forum.

Same here Dave. If it fits in I'll definitely come down. Where would be the best spot to camp up. Have you got anywhere in mind ? I've found that hammock camping on the AI needs a lot more protection from the wind than a tent on the beach.

Hope this works, my first time on the forum.Slaughter and Stringy, thanks for letting me (Revo 11 with sail) play with the big boys and thanks for the tips and link to rig up the Revo Stringy...maybe I'll keep up next time.

There are plenty of potential camping spots up Patonga Creek. Not sure of the legality of camping on land. I think it's part of Brisbane Waters National Park. There is a designated camping area at the mouth of the creek, but it's likely to be crowded over Christmas.

I'm interested in the AI sporting the TI sail. Now that I've bought a TI I'm not using the AI very much and have kicked around the idea of modifying it with both a TI sail and Amas. Not so much to add more speed in high wind, but to help out in the lighter winds. The TI Amas would be there mainly to provide a bit more stability when the winds are higher.

Not a problem Cads. That’s the beauty of the Hobie range. There is a Hobie type there somewhere to suit everyone. ( well, almost everyone…..they really do need to work on an design with a built in fan forced convection microwave though ). I know you like your estuary fishing so that Revo will be perfect for you, and the sail will only add to the places you can go. As far as speed goes, the one trait that I have never seen in a Hobie operator, is the need to get anywhere in a hurry.

Yeah Chris. Not too sure about the legalities down that way. They don’t really worry me anyway. That’s one reason why I like the Penthouse so much.

Chris, I suspect you might need to add a crossbar or similar to raise the line of the mainsheet when using the Ti sail, as you can see there is not enough tension on the foot compared to the clew, making the sail too full. Just a thought